1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a racking system for deep fryers for the food service industry. More particularly, this disclosure relates to a racking system that permits a food to be safely lowered into cooking oil and automatically removed from the cooking oil based upon preprogrammed temperatures and cooking times.
2. Description of Related Art
A commercial deep fat fryer typically has multiple fryer pots that hold melted shortening or oil that is heated by heated tubes or gas fired burners. When the oil is at a proper temperature an operator must lower a large quantity of food into the tank until it is cooked and then retrieve it. Foods typically cooked in a commercial situation with a deep fryer include battered coated chicken, fish and non-battered coated items such a French fries. In a commercial situation it is desirable to cook large quantities of such foods, but the problem of lowering the food into the frypot, and retrieving the cooked food should only require a minimum involvement of an operator. Most importantly, substantial operator exertion and cooking discretion should not be required for customer and operator safety.
Currently, racking systems for frying in deep fryers that are manually lifted and controlled are commercially available. Such systems use different motors and mechanical lifts to move fryer baskets or rack systems into cooking oil. Other systems use cables, guide rails and motorized pulley systems to raise and lower the food for cooking.
With all such systems, reliability and safety are concerns. Racking systems must be able to lower the food to be cooked into the cooking oil at the proper cooking temperature. Food that is undercooked presents health concerns and food that is overcooked is unsatisfactory for the consumer. Further, the large volume of cooking oil and the large amount of food to be cooked can present a safety concern for the operator.
Accordingly, there is a need for a racking system that has a controller that is communicates with racking system components to automatically lower plurality of racks holding the food product into the cooking oil when a pre-set range of temperatures has been reached and starts a cooking timer once the rack is submerged in the oil and then raises rack after a cooking cycle has ended.